There really wasn’t any need to remake 1981’s “Endless Love,” a forgettable Brooke Shields epic whose claim to fame was a great title tune that became a sure-fire prom favorite for a good five years.

However, if you had to update the film for the Instagram generation, you could do a lot worse than what director Shana Feste (“Country Strong”) has come up with. She has crafted a stylish, evocative journey into overheated-teenager territory. For a good chunk of the time, it works.

Budding mechanic David (Alex Pettyfer) has great SAT scores but no desire to go to college. Jade (Gabriella Wilde) is a rich girl who went through four years of high school as a virtual recluse after the death of her brother. Needless to say, both are impossibly gorgeous in that CW kind of way.

The two instantly click after graduation and soon are sleeping together in Jade’s family mansion. Her father (Bruce Greenwood) seethes while her mom (Joely Richardson) becomes a cheerleader for David, even writing him a college recommendation letter that talks about the feelings he has awakened in her daughter. What potential freshman doesn’t want that mentioned in their application?

The couple’s passion intensifies, though the movie stays away from the dark obsession that featured prominently in the original. Instead, these two are more hopelessly in love, as they play with fireworks (literally) and splash around in the ocean as angsty modern songs play on the soundtrack.

Of course, there must be bumps in the road. Those come courtesy of Jade’s dad, whose actions get increasingly desperate as he threatens to split them apart. That’s where the movie starts to lose ground, as Dad becomes a little too Snidely Whiplash to be taken seriously. The momentum dissipates, leading to an ending that feels overly bright for the melodrama that has preceded it.

Despite those stumbles, the film isn’t bad as far as these things go. A lot of it is due to the cast, as the leading couple create some believable sparks. Pettyfer, in particular, brings a brooding sensitivity to his role. This is easily the former model’s best performance after such efforts as “I Am Number Four” and “Beastly.”

The film is gorgeously shot by Andrew Dunn, who created similar imagery in the superior “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” He goes heavy on the close-ups and does interesting things with candlelight, particularly in a party sequence in which David and Jade sneak off to a closet. The overall look adds to the mood of the film, giving it an immediacy it might otherwise lack.